Chatsworth Homesteaders Part 1, California

Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders – Part 1
10/15/2013 Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders Part 1 1

Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders Part 1
• This will be a three part presentation, as we share the history of some of the 45
Chatsworth Homesteading Families. Topics we will cover tonight:
• Homesteading Overview
• Research Tools supporting this presentation
• Homesteading History in California
• Homesteading Requirements
• Overview of Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders
• Part 1 - Homesteader Families in the Santa Susana Mountains, north of
Chatsworth Street and west of Andora.
Revised 10/25/2013

Online Research Tools used in this Presentation
• Online Census Data, and supplemental Genealogical Websites, i.e. Ancestry.com
• Online Township Master Title Plats from California Bureau of Land Management
(BLM)
• Online US Dept. of Interior BLM, listing Names and Doc numbers of
Homesteaders, and any other transfer/sale of public lands to private lands
• Google Earth, allowing us to plot Homesteader parcels as an overlay
• Earth Point, allowing an overlay of the Federal townships and sections on Google
Earth.
• As a background, a township is 36 square miles (6 miles to each side). A township
is divided into 36 sections of one square mile each (1 mile to each side). Each
section is 640 acres, a quarter section is 160 acres.
• A special thanks to Rich Krugel and Ken Ditto, who helped us compile the Homestead
Data

Example of 1880 Census
• This page shows Rita De la Ossa (Stagecoach Way Station), Francisco Miranda
(Oakwood Cemetery), and Peter (Pierre) Domec, Chatsworth Lake Manor

Example of Township Master Title Plat
Township 2North,
Range 17West,
showing portions of
Sections 1, 2, 11 and
12. Representing
surveys from 1853-
1895.
Each of the grids
represents 160 acres.
Notice the map shows
Mrs. Johnsons house,
and Williams house.

Example of US Dept. of Interior Names and Doc #s of
Homesteaders
This information was compiled by Rich Krugel from the US Dept. of Interior Bureau of
Land Management website. Notice Ann Johnson, 1899, Doc# 397, and Charles Iverson,
1897, Doc #2854.

Example of Google Earth with Homesteader Overlay

Research Tools and Homesteader Overlay
For those of you who are interested in the
sources we used for this presentation, email
us at chatsworthhistory@gmail.com
We will email you the online links, plus a
Chatsworth Hills Homesteader file that you
can open up as an overlay on Google Earth.

Homesteading History in California
• Spanish Rule
• 1542 - Cabrillo anchors his ships off the shore of Santa Monica.
• 1769 - Spanish Colonization and the Mission Period begins.
• 1773 – Spanish Viceroy Felipe de Barri grants authority for the issuance of land grants in
California
• 1781 – Pueblo de Los Angeles is founded. Grants for lots at the Pueblo for twelve Spanish
pioneer colonists and their families were conditional for a period of five years, at the end of
which time they received confirmation of possession.
• 1795 – Rancho Simi - Francisco, Patricio and Miguel Pico are given a 113,009 acre land grant of
Simi Valley and other Ventura lands.
• 1795 – Rancho Encino - The first land grant in the San Fernando Valley. Cattle raising was
popular in the Valley at this time.
• 1797 – The San Fernando Mission is established, and Rancho Encino gives up much of its land
for the use of the Mission.
• 1819 – The Mission has 21,745 cattle, sheep, horses, mules, goats and pigs.

• Mexican Rule
• 1821 – Mexico declares independence from Spain
• 1834 – The Mission is secularized, allowing Mission lands to be granted to individuals. The
Mission is at its peak, with 26,000 cattle, sheep, horses, mules, goats and pigs.
• 1845 – Rancho Encino – Governor Pio Pico regrants Rancho Encino to three Tongva Native
Americans, Ramon, Francisco, and Roque.
• 1845 – El Escorpion - Governor Pio Pico grants 1,110 acres to three Chumash Native Americans,
Odon, Urbano and Manuel. Their grant petition was for two square leagues, or 9,000 acres,
reaching north to Chatsworth Lake and east to Topanga Canyon.
• 1846 –Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando - To raise funds for the Mexican-American war,
Governor Pio Pico sells most of the valley floor, 116,858 acres, to Eulogio De Celis for $14,000.
• 1848 – the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American war, and provides that land
grants will be honored.

• American Rule
• 1820 – The 1820 Land Act or “Cash Act” allowed the purchase of 160 acres of federal land at a
cost of $2.00 an acre. The 1821 Relief Act reduced the minimum acres to 80, and reduced the
price to $1.25 per acre.
• 1841 – The Preemption Act permitted "squatters" who were living on federal land to purchase up
to 160 acres at a very low price before the land was to be offered for sale to the general public.
• Requirements included living on the land, and working to improve it for five years.
• 1862 – The Homestead Act gave an applicant ownership of government land of up to 160 acres.
Requirements were that the homesteader needed to live on the land for five years, and improve it
by building a 12’ x 14’ dwelling and growing crops.

Homesteaders Overview – Spanish Land Grants in 1848

45 Homesteaders pioneer the Santa Susana and Simi Hills
• The orange section is the area between Rancho
Simi and Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando,
that became federal land after the Mexican
American war in 1848.
• Some Homesteaders arrived as early as the
1860’s and 1870’s, although most did not file for
their homesteads until the mid 1890’s
• Chatsworth Park (in blue) was originally a part
of Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando. It was
founded in 1888, about the same time as many
homesteaders settled in the area. The railroad
came in 1893.
• Notice that Chatsworth Park was bordered by
Andora, the Mission Road (Rinaldi), Mason and
DeSoto, Roscoe, and Fallbrook.

Overview of Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders
• 32 homesteaders qualified under the Homestead Act, and 13
purchased their land for cash.
• A few homesteaders continued to live on their land long after they
earned their property, while most eventually sold their interests or
moved out of the hills to the main part of town.
• We have broken the Homesteaders into 3 major groups:
• North Chatsworth – north of Chatsworth Street and west of Andora.
• West Chatsworth – between Chatsworth St. and Plummer west of Andora.
• South Chatsworth – north of Roscoe and south of Plummer including Lake
Manor.
1100//1155//22001133 Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders Part 1 1144

Homesteaders of the
Northern Hills of
Chatsworth
• Although the hills had been
occupied by Indian and
Spanish families for many
years, those that actually set
down roots and officially
homesteaded, left a
paperwork trail that we have
been able to follow.

Ramon and Augustias Dejeremias
•1865 One of the earliest Homesteaders in the
north were Ramon and Augustias
Dejeremias, both of Spanish descent married
in 1865.
•Ramon is listed as a rancher in San Fernando
at the age of 25. In 1870 they have two
children.
•The residents of our Chatsworth area were
included in the San Fernando records until
Chatsworth Park was put on the map in 1888.
•Notice that his land followed the Santa
Susana Creek, and was also relatively flat.

Ramon and Augustias Dejeremias
• Quote: “Ramon Jeremiah was another
Chatsworth Pioneer who first demonstrated the
highly productive quality of the soil in that most
scenic and picturesque part of the valley. His
garden provided many choice vegetables for
the sheep herders, who pastured their flocks in
the nearby hills.”
• As a side note, the 1880 Census listed
Bernadeno Don Aleke as a French Basque
Sheepherder living near the Jeremiah family
through at least the 1880’s.
• Living with Bernadeno was his stepson
Martin Biscaluz, who became an attorney.
• Martin’s son Eugene Biscaluz became the
sheriff of Los Angeles in 1932.
Note the trails shown on the 1903 topo map
to homesteads in the area

Stephen Lopez
• Stephen Lopez was born in 1871. His
parents were Catalina and Geronimo
Lopez who ran the Lopez Stagecoach
Station in San Fernando.
• His mother Catalina, born in 1832, grew up
in the romantic and colorful Mission period
while her father Pedro Lopez handled the
affairs of the Mission.
• “She (Catalina) first saw the San
Fernando Mission in all its glory, with
beautiful orchards and gardens
surrounding it and the wide plains in
front covered with cattle and sheep.”
• He is listed in the 1892 voter registration at
the age of 21 as a butcher, lame in one
foot.

Stephen Lopez
•The property he homesteaded had the
railroad tracks and one of the tunnels running
through it. Construction was in progress
during the time he was homesteading.
•In 1900, his Chatsworth neighbor Augustias
Dejeremias is listed as a widow residing as a
boarder with the Geronimo Lopez family
(Stephen’s father) in San Fernando.
•In 1920, Stephen Lopez is caring for his
father Geronimo Lopez in San Fernando.
Stephen Lopez’s occupation at this time is
Real Estate.

Stephen Lopez Land Grant

Neils and Ann Johnson
• 1868 - The Neils and Ann Johnson family
arrive in California and build a shake house
in 1871 in what eventually became known
as Brown’s Canyon
• Confrontations over cattle grazing and
water access rights developed with
Milton Brown, who arrived shortly after
they did with a herd of cattle from the
Sonoma area. The Brown family
remained and by 1900 at the age of 71,
Milton Brown retired to Whittier. He
never filed for homesteading.
• Neils and Ann moved on to the property
they homesteaded in 1874. Homesteading
documents were issued in 1899.
• The Johnsons were known as the
first American family to arrive in the San
Fernando Valley.

• Ann & Neils had 10 children, and number 8
was Emma Johnson, born in 1873.
• Ann Johnson worked to start the first school
in 1880, and organized services under the
oaks before the Pioneer church was built in
1903.
• 1913 - Ann moves down from the hills to the
town onto Old Santa Susana Pass near her
son Charles’s property. She dies in 1920.
• 1929 - The Johnson Family sell their
homestead property to John Brandeis,
preserving 20 acres as a family retreat.
Movies were made at the Brandeis Ranch
until 1949.
• 1963 - Katharine Johnson, wife of grandson
Kelly Johnson, is a founding member of the
Chatsworth Historical Society
• 2000 - Indian Springs Estates custom homes
surround the remaining acres of Fern Ann.

“The friendship, cooperation and mutual spirit
of enthusiasm that developed between the
Jeremiah family and the family of N.C.
Johnson, who came to be neighbors in those
early days, laid the groundwork for that deeply
seated pride of possession that still maintains
among the citizens of the Chatsworth area of
the valley.”
History of San Fernando Valley, by Frank
Keefer,1934
The Johnson
Homestead
House at Fern
Ann Falls

Fred Graves
• Fred Graves was the first member of the
Graves family to arrive in Chatsworth in 1896.
• Emma Johnson, the 8th child of Neils and
Ann, married Fred Graves, and they
homesteaded an additional 160 acres
adjacent to the Johnson property, receiving
homestead documents in 1903.
• The Graves homestead property becomes
part of the Johnson’s land holdings, bringing
it up to 320 acres.

Fred Graves
• Fred Graves
becomes Constable
of Chatsworth from
1903-1910, and
also goes into
partnership with
Lovell Hill, another
homesteading
family, to run the
Graves-Hill General
Mercantile.

Fred Graves
26
• 1908-1913 Fred purchases land west of
Andora and north of Chatsworth Street.
His father Eli and brother Harry soon
purchase additional adjacent land north
of Chatsworth street.
• 1932 Fred Graves sells most land
holdings, and moves his house from
10637 Andora to the present location
22200 Chatsworth Street (known today
as the Big Oak Theatre).
• The house is thought to have been built
in 1913 (maybe as early as 1908) from
interviews with Emma Graves.
Fred and
Emma Graves
60th Wedding
Anniversary,
1956
Emma Graves
was know for
being seen on
horseback
throughout the
community.
10/15/2013 Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders Part 1

Graves Family – Harry Graves
• 1945 - 15 acres in the northwest corner
of the Harry Graves ranch is deeded to
Bill/Bonnie Graves Lakey and
Hubert/Virginia Graves Ditto
• 1947 Lakey House is built, 1949
Ditto House is built
• In 1969, Harry Graves ranch house on
Tulsa is sold
• 1972-1975 - Lakey house and remaining
property is sold
• 1986 to 1995 - Virginia Graves Ditto
thought to be the oldest person born and
still living in Chatsworth
• 2013 - Ditto property is still owned by the
family, it is last of the Graves ranch
remaining
1926 Bonnie and
Virginia Graves in
a wheelbarrow on
the Harry Graves
Ranch. Today it is
at the Acre.
1952 Mailbox at Graves
Ranch, showing three
addresses –
•Route 1, Box A15
•10755 Santa Susana
•22101 Tulsa
10/15/2013
Chatsworth Historical Society - Chatsworth Hills Homesteaders Part 1 27

J. R. Williams
• 1881 The James Richard and Caroline
Williams family arrived from Kansas. They
had 5 children.
• Twenty acres of cultivated land was used to
raise hay and grow potatoes, with the
remainder set aside for grazing cattle and
apiaries (bee hives).
• J.R. and his wife Carrie, along with their
children, lived in a 4-room 24’ x 24’ “wood-board
house,” with a 12’ x 16’ barn, honey
house, a small orchard, and a half-mile of
fencing nearby.
The Williams property is now shared by the Church at Rocky Peak,
Indian Springs Estates, & the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park.
The lower section was once a part of the Spahn Ranch.

J. R. Williams
• The Williams family lived on their
homestead at least into the 1920s.
• They later moved to “Chatsworth
Proper” with a home on Devonshire and
Farralone where they retired and
remained active in the community.
Caroline Williams at
her Homestead House,
on the north side of the
Santa Susana Creek.
The house is no longer
there.

J. R. Williams
• During the moving of the
Pioneer Church in 1965, a
ceremony was held to open
the cornerstone that was
sealed in 1903.
• At that ceremony were
three generations of J.R.
Williams.
J.R. I is Rick,
J.R. II is Jim,
J.R. III is Dick

Carl Iverson
• In 1884 Caroline Williams
invited her sister Augusta to
visit and stay with her while she
was expecting another child.
James and Caroline Williams
convince Augusta to stay and
homestead 160 acres next
them.
• James and Caroline built
Augusta a small lean-to shack
with the promise of a house
later on. They gave her a cow
and chickens, and Mr. Johnson
from up the road built her a fine
chicken coop.
• 1887, Carl Iverson is working on a dam in Devil’s
Canyon on the Charlton Ranch. One day while hiking
he knocks on Augusta’s door.
• In 1888, Carl Iverson (from Norway) and Augusta
Wagman (from Sweden) are married.

Carl Iverson
The rock-strewn property with rugged
outcroppings proved to be invaluable later
when it was adapted to the changing scenery
for the movie industry which came along
about 1912.
The Frank Raposo parcel and a portion of the
Williams parcel was acquired by the Iversons,
and the Iverson Ranch was run by Carl,
Augusta and sons Joe and Aaron.
As many as 2,000 motion picture and
television shows are reported to have used
Iverson Ranch to shoot some or all of their
outdoor scenes.

Carl Iverson
In 1966-68, the construction of the Simi Valley
Freeway cut the Iverson Ranch in half, and
the freeway noise kept the ranch from being a
viable movie location.
The Upper Iverson ranch is now developed as
large estate-size homes in a gate guarded
community. The Lower Iverson includes the
old Joseph Iverson residence, Indian Hills
Mobile Home Village, the Cal-West
Townhomes, the Rocky Peak Church, and the
Garden of the Gods.

Dionisio Sanchez
• Dionisio Sanchez was a recently naturalized
American citizen. Sanchez had immigrated to
the United States from his native Mexico in
1882.
• He and his California-born wife María, along
with their six children, had settled in the
Santa Susana Pass area around 1885. On
December 14, 1901, he received a patent for
129 acres of “hilly and rough mountain land”.
• Sanchez farmed about 50 acres, with 10 or
12 acres cleared for grape vines and fruit
trees, with the remainder was used for
pasture. He and his family lived in an
approximately 15’ x 16’ “rough 2-3 room
lumber house.” Other improvements included
a shed, corral, wire fencing, and water well.

Florence and Charles Mattingly
• Florence and Charles Mattingly, lived
in Los Angeles where Charles was a
prominent attorney. They purchased
two 160 acre properties in 1909 and
1912. There is no evidence that they
ever lived in Chatsworth.
• During the 1930’s, there was an
“indigent camp” that the Los Angeles
County Department of the Forester
and Fire Warden, in cooperation with
the State of California, erected and
administered. The location of the
camp is uncertain, although it was
most likely at the southeast corner of
Sanchez’s homestead.
• Both properties are now a part of the
Santa Susana Pass State Historic
Park and Rocky Peak Church.

George Charlton
• The Charlton family owned what is now
known as Stoney Point.
• George Gray Charlton was born in 1835 in
New York and of English decent. George
and his wife, Mary, had 3 sons, Oliver,
Frederick, Robert and one daughter
Annie.
• 1894 Directory Book in the Chatsworth
Section, he is listed as an apiarist.
• 1896 Voter Registration records
• 1899 Homestead is recorded
• In 1906-1915, his son Oliver operates the
Charlton quarry on his homestead. Oliver
hires William Bannon, who had moved to
Texas, to work his quarry.

George Charlton
• A website “Stone Quarries and
Beyond” has compiled locations of
“Mines and Mineral Deposits of Los
Angeles County”. They identified a
Charlton Quarry in 1906.
• The SSPSHP documentation also
references the Charlton Quarry.
• Researching where the stone
quarry was on a map required us
identifying the location of Township
2 North, Range 16 West.
• Using Earth Point’s overlay on
Google Earth, Here is that
township, six miles square,
identifying 36 sections.

George Charlton
• Section 7 is where the quarry
was located. It includes
George Carlton’s parcel, plus
most of the parcel of Twin
Lakes.
• The research points to a rock
quarry at or near Stoney Point
operating in 1906 - 1915.

George Charlton
• This is section 7 in a 1903 topo
map. Charlton’s house is identified
with a red star. He lived off of
Rinaldi (the old Mission Road)
where Chatsworth Hills Academy is
today.
• Section 7 is bounded by Topanga,
Chatsworth St., and DeSoto.
• Was the Quarry activity near
Stoney Point, or further up into
Devil’s Canyon?
Rinaldi
Chatsworth St.

George Haight
• George Haight came following the San
Francisco earthquake in 1906 and
homesteaded land in Chatsworth. The
homestead certificate was issued in
1918.
• Newel Asay’s marriage in San Francisco
was witnessed by George Haight’s wife.
Newel homesteaded his land in 1921.
– LeRoy Newell Asay can be found in
the 1920 Owensmouth annual as a
student.
• By 1927 Twin Lakes was established
and eventually marketed as a rural
resort, and promoted as a retreat for the
weekend, season, or holiday.

Mentions of Other Homesteaders

Mentions of Other Homesteaders
• Frank Raposo - (above Iverson) Homestead
1899, from Portugal
• Frank became a citizen in 1899. His
sponsors on his citizenship papers were
Frank Ackerman and Lovell Hill, both
Chatsworth homesteaders.
• Tavner Myers - Homestead 1917 from Missouri
• In 1918 The local draft board representative
that signed Myers' WW1 registration was
Carl Iverson.
• In 1920 he is a farmer/owner on Lurline in
Chatsworth.
• In 1930 he is 50 years old living on Santa
Susana, with wife, Martha, and children
Hazel, Lora and Tavner. His occupation is
real estate salesman.
• Jose Mondragon - Homestead 1901 From
Arizona, he registered to vote in 1896
• Frederick Bachmann - Homestead 1909 from
Germany
• Benjamin Conner - Homestead 1915 from
Nevada
• George Jones – Homestead 1919
• Brooks Miller - Homestead 1925
• R C Ray - Homestead 1935

Sources/Acknowledgments
• “Our Pioneer Mother”, As told to Lenora Johnson
MacDonald, 1920, Chatsworth Historical Society
• “Grandma Ann”, Mary Huff, 2001, Chatsworth
Historical Society
• “The Story of San Fernando Valley”, Title Insurance
and Trust Company, 1962
• “El Escorpion”, Chester G. Cohen, 1989, Leonis
Adobe Museum
• “The Boom of the Eighties in Southern California”,
Glenn S. Dumke, 1991, Huntington Library
• “The Cattle on a Thousand Hills, Southern
California, 1850-80”, Robert Glass Cleland, 1957,
Huntington Library
• “History of San Fernando Valley”, Frank
Keefer, 1934
• “Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
Cultural Resources Inventory Historic
Overview”, Alexander Bevil, 2007
• Prepared by Ann and Ray Vincent,
Chatsworth Historical Society, October
2013
• For our list of online resources, please
send an email to:
chatsworthhistory@gmail.com

Chatsworth Homesteaders Part 1, California

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